Happy Tuesday!
It’s the last release week in May before we gear up for an exciting June. This week gives us a new Nora Roberts, sci-fi, and more.
What new releases are on your radar this week? Let us know in the comments!
A Dark and Wild Wood
Author: Sarah Nicole Lemon
Released: May 26, 2026 by Harper Voyager
Genre: Gothic, Horror, Science Fiction/FantasyInspired by the tale of Bluebeard, A Dark and Wild Wood is the lush and atmospheric story of a maiden with dark magic who becomes the apprentice to Lord Death—for a price. Perfect for fans of Juniper and Thorn and The Year of the Witching.
“No one writes like Sarah Nicole Lemon. She is a poet with knives for teeth. Her language will leave you carved out, and her sense of story is its own kind of witchcraft.” — Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author
Ever since she was a child, Salomé has been plagued by visions of spirits and dangerous powers she can’t control. After watching her foster mother burn as a witch, she and her beloved sister Rochelle are raised together in a convent, a grim and dreary existence. Until one day, Rochelle vanishes.
Determined to find a way to save her, Salomé first to a brothel, and then, after a terrible accident, away from the village and into the woods. Deep amongst the trees of the wild Black Forest, she comes face-to-face with Lord Death.
Rather than taking her life, he brings her to his home at the heart of the woods, a strange manor full of locked rooms and mysterious corridors, crumbling one moment, magnificent the next. He promises to make her his apprentice and teach her how to harness her mind and magic. His words are as seductive as his presence—but should one trust Death?
A swirling mirage of dark fairy tale, gothic romance, and historical fantasy, A Dark and Wild Wood is a novel best devoured all at once. But proceed with caution, as everything is not what it seems…
Amanda: I’ve been a fan of Lemon’s gritty books for awhile and I’m excited for this one.
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We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!Dolly All the Time
Author: Annabel Monaghan
Released: May 26, 2026 by G.P. Putnam's Sons
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceFrom The New York Times bestselling author of Nora Goes Off Script, a romance about a single mother who’s offered a Pretty Woman-type deal that’s too good to refuse.
If they begin by pretending, can they end with something real?
Dolly Brick has never met a problem she couldn’t solve. Not when her mom left when she was twelve, and not at thirty-nine when she moves with her son back to Whitfield, Rhode Island for the summer to keep her dad and brother from losing the family home.
So when she comes across Stewart Whitfield—annoyingly handsome scion of the Whitfield family—with a flat tire and at the wrong end of a very public, very humiliating breakup, it’s in her nature to help. But Stewart’s proposed arrangement ends up being more than either of them bargained for, because as public dinners and high society benefits turn into sunset boat rides and swinging on the porch, Dolly starts to feel something more than helpful. She’s never relied on anyone besides herself, can she really start now?
The latest from Monaghan and I believe Lara has a review coming up!
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As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!The Final Target
Author: Nora Roberts
Released: May 26, 2026 by St. Martin's Press
Genre: Romantic Suspense, RomanceA young author becomes the object of a fan’s desire―and rage―in the gripping new thriller by the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Hidden Nature.
He showed up at Arden Bowie’s debut author appearance with a copy of her novel and an eager smile. He showered her with compliments and got her autograph. Then he came to her next event. And the one after that.
Dustin was just an aspiring writer who wanted advice, Arden reassured herself. But after giving in to one of his incessant invitations and chatting with him over coffee, she discovered that ignoring her inner alarm bell had been a terrible mistake…
An introvert at heart, Arden had long craved solitude―but now, after a harrowing assault, she finds herself hiding behind locked doors and startling at every sound. And her relief at his imprisonment is tempered by anxiety when Dustin’s wealthy mother helps to get him a paltry five-year sentence at a psychiatric facility.
Arden decides to write a new story for herself, moving to a tiny Oregon town and befriending Gideon, an ex-LAPD detective. But while she learns to thrive, Dustin remains his delusional, twisted self, as fixated as ever and now seething with anger. He still believes Arden’s purpose on earth is to serve and please him. And his job is to protect her. But who will protect her from him?
New standalone Nora!
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We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!Henry and Kate
Author: Laura Kneidl
Released: May 26, 2026 by LYX
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Series: The Darlingtons #1An opposites-attract, slow-burn billionaire romance set in a world of London luxury and scandal, featuring exclusive character art and sprayed edges.
He can’t afford distractions. She can’t afford to get caught.
Twenty-year-old Kate Hamilton has lost her family, her job, her home. For months, she’s been surviving alone on London’s streets. Henry Darlington, on the other hand, seems to have it all—wealth, privilege, and his family’s luxury hotel empire. But beneath The Darlington’s glittering facade lies a darker a scandal involving Henry’s father has tainted the hotel’s reputation, and as the eldest son, Henry is left to pick up the pieces.
When desperation drives Kate to steal Henry’s phone, their worlds collide in an unexpected confrontation. Instead of calling the police, Henry makes a surprising a job at The Darlington, and a chance for Kate to escape the dangers of the street.
What begins as a fragile truce soon deepens into something neither of them anticipated. Within the hotel’s opulent walls, Kate glimpses a life she never thought possible, while Henry is drawn to the resilient, sharp-witted woman who refuses to be cowed by his world. But as their connection grows, both must face the can love survive the secrets, scandals, and social divides that threaten to keep them apart?
Amanda: I’m always curious about translated romances!
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As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!Ode to the Half Broken
Author: Suzanne Palmer
Released: May 26, 2026 by DAW
Genre: Science Fiction/FantasyForty years ago, the world nearly ended.
Be is an old robot who was there, and doesn’t want to think about what happened, or what role they played in that conflict. They have settled into a life of isolation in the abandoned ruins of an old mill in the former New York Botanical Gardens, disinterested in what has happened in the outside world since they stepped away from the war. Someone out there, though, has not forgotten about them, and when they are attacked, their person vandalized, and one of their leg stolen, they set out to find the thief accompanied by a cyborg dog and a human mechanic.
The world has changed, but the recovery from the war is uneven and faltering, and Be begins to suspect a malicious hand trying to rekindle the old conflict and finish what was started. In order to stop them, Be needs to come to terms with both their own past and who they have become, and how everything and everyone else they knew has changed in their absence. Being left alone is no longer an option, and peace may be impossible.
This is a story about coming to terms with your past, with who you’ve become and who you still want to be: a tale of resilence and hope, an ode to those struggling to become whole in a world half-broken.
Elyse: The summary is giving me Brave Little Toaster vibes. Like I might cry over robots.
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As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!Teddy Bears Never Die
The horrormance genre mash-up you’ve been waiting for – from the award-winning Korean author Cho Yeeun comes a new novel where a young girl and a teddy bear team up to enact revenge!
Yamu, pop. 200,000 – A coastal town that has seen better days. A massive redevelopment plan is in place, including that for a luxury apartment complex dubbed Sea View Park. One day, a delivery of rice cakes is made to the building supposedly from one of the new neighbours. The rice cakes are laced with cyanide, however, resulting in a lethal mass poisoning.
Hwa-young’s mother, who works as a live-in housekeeper at Sea View Park, is one of the victims. Hwa-young, turned out on the streets, lives in a flophouse for runaways at the mercy of landlord Young-jin, who regularly extorts money from her. Hwa-young refuses to believe that her mother, who never touched rice cakes in her life, died from eating them, and suspects foul play. Swearing to find the true culprit and avenge her mother’s death, Hwa-young is determined to save 20 million won in order to place a hit on the suspect, and does whatever work she can find.
One day, Hwa-young is bullied into playing bait for one of Young-jin’s scams. Left in a motel room alone with the mark, she is alarmed when he begins to unpack one lethal weapon after another. She signals Young-jin for help, but when no one comes she realizes that she has been tricked, and that Young-jin has sold her to the would-be murderer. Just when the man is about to attack Hwa-young, he collapses in pain, bleeding. Hwa-young is about to escape when a teddy bear speaks to her. It’s a grubby Happy Smile Bear doll.
And thus begins the extraordinary journey as a Happy Smile Bear, possessed by the spirits of a murdered young boy, and Hwa-yeong, an orphaned young girl, join forces enact vengeance and bring the true culprit to justice.
Amanda: I feel like Korean fiction has been killing it lately with really fun stuff.
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